Over my 22 years in the financial services industry, I have been approached by thousands of OSJ’s or enterprise leaders wanting me to recruit advisors into their OSJ or enterprise.  While some have success in recruiting advisors, you would be surprised to know the vast majority of them have little to no success in competing for additional talent.  Why is that?  Is it low payouts, no real value proposition, or no infrastructure? While those are certainly common and valid reasons, in reality there are even more valid reasons.

It is important to have a very strong value proposition, competitive payouts and infrastructure to support the advisors you bring on.  However, what most have not considered is one very important question.  “Have you negotiated the best possible payouts and pricing with your broker-dealer to allow you to compete against other OSJ’s and enterprise leaders?”

Consequently, can you guess what the biggest mistake OSJ’s and enterprise leaders make when moving to a new broker-dealer is?  You’re probably dead on.  They focus on broker-dealers offering the most amount of upfront money.

Sure, the upfront money is important.  However, it is even more important, if you want to be successful in recruiting, that you accomplish three critical goals.  First, take a bit less upfront money and negotiate the best possible advisory pricing for your advisors.  Second, negotiate the most favorable recruiting packages for future advisors you recruit.  Finally, ensure you understand fully what the broker-dealer offers to any future advisors as it relates to upfront money.

Oftentimes these are overlooked and/or not even considered, but if you can negotiate better than published advisory pricing or payouts, that means an advisor comparing going direct to the broker-dealer, versus joining your group would be better off joining you.  They will receive better payouts and pricing while reaping the benefits of an additional layer of support. Think about it.  Most advisors don’t want to feel like they are just another number amongst tens of thousands of advisors.

I would imagine your next question is:  “Well that’s great, but how do you do that?” First and foremost, you have to ensure you are working with a strong consulting firm like Trusted Visions.  We take a deep dive into your value proposition, payouts and infrastructure to ensure they are strong enough as is.  Second, it’s important to be open-minded to make changes to strengthen your value proposition.  Working with a firm like Trusted Visions, we can evaluate whether your broker-dealer has positioned you to have success in recruiting, or if it is time to explore other options in a new broker-dealer partnership.

We fully understand making a move as an OSJ and/or enterprise is not an easy task. So, ask yourself, is worth it to make a move to have greater long-term success in recruiting new advisors?  We specialize in coordinating and assisting large enterprises and OSJ’s in making a broker-dealer change, while retaining an overwhelming majority of their advisors. We have seen OSJ’s and enterprises more than quadruple in headcount and AUM within their group within 2 years.  Historically, if you aren’t recruiting 25% of your group’s GDC each year with new advisors, there is a reason.

Give us a call today and let us setup an evaluation to help you become the next successful recruiting OSJ or enterprise. 

Jeremy Belfiore  (480) 430-5012.
JBelfiore@trustedvisions.com